


A Love Unexpected

by Star_tDash



Category: BanG Dream! Girl's Band Party! (Video Game)
Genre: Eventual Romance, F/F, Fluff, Minato Yukina/Mitake Ran as a side pairing, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Romance, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-18
Updated: 2019-06-01
Packaged: 2019-08-25 05:43:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16655317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Star_tDash/pseuds/Star_tDash
Summary: A choice meeting at her best friend's house leads to a slow but spiraling ride of love for Rinko. But could someone so meek and timid hope to ever have someone like Tomoe fall for her? Maybe with a bit of help from some friends...





	1. As Fate Would Decide

**Author's Note:**

> || Rinko plays some video games and manages to embarrass herself in front of a pretty girl in the process. ||

Being somewhere that wasn’t school, home, or CiRCLE was a breath of fresh air for Rinko. Often, being this introverted meant that time spent in the unknown was time spent in fear. It wasn't until recently that she had that outlet into the real world, which came in the form of Ako Udagawa. Having someone to be around who was fine with large bouts of silence was reassuring for Rinko; and their shared interests meant that she was almost never left to the wayside. Even if most of these excursions were simply the two of them playing games at Ako’s house, any step towards getting over her social anxiety was valuable. It was just like their late-night raid sessions, except in person. That was all it should have been to Rinko, but of course, fate had a different plan. Plans that involved long red, unkempt hair, and sleeveless jackets.

 

Truth be told, the fact that Ako had an older sister was something that slipped her mind. Besides being as different as could be, both in personality and in appearance, there were few times in which Rinko interacted with the other girls in bands. It was difficult enough just getting to a point where she could talk to the rest of her bandmates. Adding twenty other girls to that list? That would end up taking forever. Sure, Rinko had heard plenty about Tomoe from Ako’s endless praising and watched her quite a few times at live events. There was just the matter of striking a conversation with someone that cool-looking that almost scared Rinko. Their first conversation was indicative of this fear, but it wasn’t entirely Rinko’s fault. There was just something about an intense game of Mario Kart that made everything else seem irrelevant in the heat of the moment.

 

“Ako’s devilish fire of, um, b-big and scary… d-demons will make me first!” The younger of the two girls rocked back and forth on the couch, moving the tiny controller in her arms every which way as she steered her car towards potential victory. On the other side, Rinko simply sat still, keeping much calmer and more collected as her car effortlessly careened across the finish line. The game’s victory fanfare blared from the speakers as the two girls untensed their shoulders. Recovering from the intensity of the breakneck race, Ako sprawled out on her side of the couch, stretching as they watched the results of that race flash across the screen. Giving her best friend some time to breathe, Rinko looked to her side to check her phone, seeing that there was a text message notification. _Ah, so tomorrow’s practice will be long, huh…_

 

“Hey Ako, did you want anything from the store—Oh! Rinko, I didn’t know you were here!” Hearing a voice other than Ako’s made Rinko sit straight up, unprovoked and unprepared for someone else in the room. Turning around to look towards the sound of the voice, Rinko saw Tomoe leaning against the door frame in what seemed to be just a tank top and shorts.

 

“A demon would love to indulge in a brew most powerful!” Ako exclaimed, “grape, please!”

 

“A grape soda… gotcha,” Tomoe sighed, more than used to her sister’s mannerisms of speaking, “Rinko, would you like anything? I’m going to the convenience store.”

 

Hearing her name, Rinko let out a soft eep! as she sank behind the cushions of the couch. “…I’ll have a grape soda too,” she mumbled, trying her best to look away from Tomoe’s direction, “thank you…”

 

“Okay! I’ll be back soon then!”

 

After finding safety in the sound of the door closing, Rinko gave an exhausted sigh, mind still frazzled and cheeks still blushing red. Turning her attention back to the game-based matters at hand, the two girls picked their controllers up again, starting the next race in silence. And after a lap that seemed to go on for an eternity, Ako turned her head slightly towards the other girl.

 

“Hey, RinRin?”

“Yes, Ako?”

“I thought you didn’t like soda… “

 

Even though Rinko’s response was inaudible, her actions spoke louder than words as Rinko’s character fell off the track, something uncharacteristic from someone that familiar with gaming. Sparing a second to star at the TV, Ako quickly turned to see that Rinko’s face was still blushing from her encounter with Tomoe.

 

“I-I just wanted to try something new, I guess,” Rinko explained, already regretting the words as they left her mouth, “no harm in going outside of your comfort zone, right?”

 

Rinko’s quick excuse saved her from any more scrutiny from Ako, but her heart told a different story, still very much feeling the effects of having Tomoe surprise her. And while Rinko usually wasn’t one for surprises, the warm buzz that resonated in her chest was certainly something she didn’t mind.

* * *

 

 

Making her way through her house's door, Tomoe kicked her shoes off, tired yet satisfied after a successful snack excursion. After some recommendations via a quick text to Moca, Tomoe was satisfied with bag of chips and a small tub of ice cream for herself in one bag, and the two sodas in the other.

 

“I’m home!” Tomoe exclaimed as she crossed into the living room, unsurprised that the two were still playing games. From what she could make of it, Rinko was coaching Ako as she attempted to fight some big monster.

 

“Use your arrows, Ako! The eye—shoot the eye!”

 

Not wanting to intrude on the intense moment taking place in front of her, Tomoe silently made her way around into the kitchen, stashing her Rocky Road in the freezer to enjoy later.

 

“Hey! Hurry up before your drinks get warm, you two.”

“But I can’t pause Sis! I’m fighting a guardian!!!”

“I think the ‘guardian’ or whatever can wait a few seconds, Ako.”

 

Tomoe heard a sigh of defeat as the two girls got up from their game, stretching on their way to the kitchen. Handing them the bottles, she watched as Ako quickly opened her drink, taking a sip while Rinko seemed to be struggling with the cap.

 

“Is there something wrong, Rinko?” Tomoe asked as she looked at Rinko, looking almost desperate as she tried to twist the cap off.

 

“I, um… can’t open this,” she admitted, taking her hand off of the top, “I usually ask for someone else to help me...” Knowing that Rinko was quite in the predicament, Tomoe outstretched her hand, giving Rinko a calming smile.

 

“I can do it for you if you want!” Handing the bottle to Tomoe, Rinko watched as the girl unscrewed the cap with a single twist, her eyes for a fleeting moment catching Tomoe’s arm flex just a bit with the motion. _A-Ah…_ “Thank you, Udagawa-san.”

 

“No need to be so formal, especially since you’ve been such a good friend to Ako! Please, Tomoe is fine.”

 

“Thank you… Tomoe.” As she finally took her long-awaited sip, Rinko grimaced at the sudden carbonation. While it wasn’t her normal cup of hot milk, it was something sweet and something new. And judging by the blush that crept across her face as she looked at Tomoe’s toothy grin, there was a part of Rinko’s heart that didn’t mind something new as well.

* * *

_God, today was so embarrassing._

 

Dropping her school bag to the floor, Rinko let out an exhausted sigh as she made her way past her computer, deciding that homework or games could wait. There wasn’t the time, nor the energy for it either not after today’s less than stellar showings of her social skills. And with an unceremonious **fwump** , Rinko had all but jumped into bed, finally finding solace in somewhere comfortable.

 

With her head buried in one of her pillows, Rinko tried in vain to stave off any more feelings of embarrassment from welling up. _Out of all times to completely make a fool out of myself… especially in front of a cute girl—_

 

Rinko shot up out of her bed, eyes wide in panic from her very own thoughts. _I can’t be calling Tomoe that… I don’t know her well, a-and she’s Ako’s sister, and… and…_ Rinko’s mind was fried. There was only so much that her brain could handle when it came to socializing, and it only took one smile from Tomoe to make her malfunction. Flopping onto the bed in defeat, Rinko wished that she could fall asleep that very instant.

**-Bzzt Bzzt-**

But of course, fate had a different plan for her.

* * *

“Someone looks like they had a fun day today.”

 

Resting on the couch with her coveted ice cream in hand, Tomoe smiled as she watched Ako effortlessly type message after message in some chat program. _Probably her gamer friends…_

 

“Yeah! I was just telling RinRin that I had lots of fun hanging out with her today!” Ako exclaimed as she put her phone back into her pocket, “I wanna do that again! Is it alright if she comes over again?”

 

“Well ya have to ask mom and dad about that,” Tomoe smiled, Ako’s infectiously cheery attitude finally getting the best of her, “but I think they would let you. It’s nice that you found someone who’s on the same wavelength as you and all.”

 

“Mhmm! That’s why she’s my most trusted dark general, because she can— oh!!” Cutting her own train of thought off, Ako quickly darted to her phone, scrolling and typing frantically for something. With an intense glint of inspiration in her eyes, Ako turned to Tomoe, holding up her phone with the picture of what seemed to be an arcade cabinet, with two plastic guns situated on a pedestal in front of a screen.

 

“Sis sis sis!! It’s the weekend tomorrow, can we go to the arcade with RinRin?” Ako asked, scrolling down to show the address of a location that wasn’t too far away, “A new cool game came out and Ako needs her most powerful ally to reign victorious over the enemy!”

Smiling at her sister’s usual antics, Tomoe couldn’t help give a wavering but happy smile. “Sure, we can ask Mom and Dad in a bit, but why don’t you try calling Rinko to ask if she could go first?”

* * *

Rolling over to check her phone, Rinko spotted Ako’s name flashing on the screen, an uncharacteristic call from someone who often texted Rinko if they needed to talk.

 

“Y-Yes? Hello?”

“RiiinRin!” a shrill voice screamed from the phone’s speaker, “are you free tomorrow?”

 

Quickly distancing her phone from her ear, Rinko scrolled through her calendar app, checking if there were any pressing matters that would clash. Besides staying home and playing video games, Rinko’s schedule was as clean as could be.

 

“Yes, I’m free! Was there something you needed Ako?”

“Yeah! I wanna go to the arcade to play Mansion of the Murdered 4; it came out recently and it’s nearby!”

 

Rinko gave a weary smile as she heard Ako’s request. Horror games were… not her strong suit. But those were usually atmospherically scary. Maybe being in a loud, crowded place would make shooting zombies a bit more palatable?

 

“O-OK, I’ll go,” she answered, trusting that the experience of getting to go somewhere with a friend (which were few and far between) was worth the screams that were sure to follow a jump scare, “just text me all the details.”  

 


	2. A Day at the Arcade

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> By chance, their paths seem to cross again, and unbeknowst to eachother, sparks begin to fly in the most unexpected of places.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, this turned out a lot longer than I expected. And took a lot longer than I expected too. But all in all this chapter was so much fun to write! I can't get enough of their dynamic =w=

_ 567314895.jpg sent _

_ xXxDarkSorceressxXx: So this looks OK? _

_ Lisa  _ ♥ _ : ya u look fierce and sexy _

_ xXxDarkSorceressxXx: wait what _

_ xXxDarkSorceressxXx: im just with ako i don’t want to look sexy  _ _ ( _ _ ；￣ _ _ Д _ _ ￣ _ _ ) _

_ Lisa  _ ♥ _ : im just saying u look good rinko; and who knows maybe youll make some girl go wild after you _

_ xXxDarkSorceressxXx: wait that sounds scary I don’t want that that means I have to talk to them (º  _ _ □ _ _ º l|l) _

_ Lisa  _ ♥ _ : … youll be fine. _

If there was a word to describe Rinko’s usual attire, the word ‘reserved’ would be most people's first choice. But with an occasion that was a bit more casual like the arcade, a long flowing (and frankly constricting) skirt probably wouldn’t be the best option. So, Rinko turned to someone who she could trust in making her not as… modest as her usual outfits were. And Lisa picked right; a knee-level skirt and blouse combo. It wasn’t the level of fashion forward that Lisa tended to wear, but it was a difference nonetheless. Twirling around one last time to make sure everything was in check, Rinko walked out of her front door, commemorative NFO tote in tow. Pulling out her phone, Rinko gave one last cautious check of her phone, checking to see if she had the place and time right. Luckily for her, it was only a small walk and a few train stops away; nothing that she wasn’t unfamiliar with. And besides it was time to hang out with her best friend, and for Ako? Rinko would be willing to go the distance.

* * *

 

Hearing her station’s name called on the train’s intercom, Rinko looked up from her phone, realizing that she’d have to get up. Feeling the train halt to a stop, Rinko quickly got up off of her seat, muttering a dozen or so ‘s-sorry!’’s before finally making her way out of the train.

Stepping out of the building, Rinko scanned her surroundings, hoping to pinpoint her friend’s garishly iconic hairstyle from far away. And after a quick scan of the horizon, Rinko spotted a familiar set of purple pigtails, and made her way towards her. Getting closer, Rinko realized that it wasn't just Ako that was waiting for her at the arcade entrance; Tomoe stood beside her sister, mimicking a small wave in her direction. “Ah, Rinko, Rinko!” Ako called out as she saw her friend walking her way, “we’re over here!” 

 

There were two things that Rinko should have saw coming. The first was that Ako probably needed her big sister to be with her when going into a crowded place like an arcade, just to make sure she would be both safe and accounted for. The second was that today was hot. Which meant that Ako would do away with her chunni fashion in favour of comfortable clothing; going instead for shorts and a t-shirt adorned with video game lingo (something about playing a game, eating, going to sleep, then doing it again?). This also meant that Tomoe was dressed for the weather. Which meant athletic shorts and a tank top, with a windbreaker tied around her waist.

 

“Ah, Rinko, you’re looking really red,” Ako pointed out as Rinko finally came within speaking distance, “did you have to run here? Sorry…”

 

“N-No! I didn’t, don’t worry,” RInko quickly replied, her mind and eyes distracted by Tomoe’s clothing, or, lack thereof in the arm region, “just a bit hot, that’s all.”

_ Preparing to go outside with Ako was enough… I didn’t expect more than one person, l-let alone her… _

 

“What do you say we all head in now?” Tomoe asked, nodding her head in the direction of the arcade, “we wanna make sure that we get to play that game you were looking forward to, right, Ako?”

 

“Yeah! The zombies will tremble in fear of my… um…”

“Demonic energy?”

“Yeah!”

* * *

 

With whirring noises, flashing lights and the sound of general hustle and bustle, the arcade seemed like the bane of Rinko’s very existence. But in reality, an arcade was just a place she was able to truly shine in her element, something similar to the feelings she has when she was on stage with the rest of Roselia. No longer brought down by the lack of outward communication, Rinko was able to speak through her actions, frequently out showing even the most seasoned of veterans with her video game expertise. Ako was keen to this as well, and frequently asked for Rinko’s help when it came to playing games, which was, for today, a light-gun game. 

 

But as the trio entered the arcade, it was evident that it would take a bit of time before they would get to try their hands at the new game, made clear with the sprawling line forming in from of the machine. It was clear to see why; with a giant TV, a pair of exaggerated plastic guns (that even kicked back when you shot) and speakers that were already threatening to damage Tomoe’s ears, it was clear why Ako was so enticed to play the game in the first place. Seeing her sister’s pout at the prospect of a long wait, Tomoe decided it would be best to enjoy the other things that the arcade had to offer before the main event. “Is there anything else you guys wanna do?” Tomoe asked as she scanned the machines, “there’s crane games and other… um… cool things.”

 

“Ohh, yeah!” Ako cheers as she wanders off into the flashing lights of the arcade. Snaking around various sorts of prize games, the trio settled down in front of a UFO catcher, which contained large boxes with figures in them.  “Rinrin, Rinrin, can you help me with this?” Ako begged as she took her friends hand, making Rinko jump in surprise, “it's the new Tsushiko Yoshima figure with the new stage outfit!” Peeking behind the shoulders of the two girls, Tomoe could see a row of identical figures of an idol girl that she recognized from a poster in her Ako’s room, With one of the boxes balanced atop a pair of bars.

 

“Are you sure about that Ako?” Tomoe asked as she leaned against a nearby pillar, not wanting to take up any unnecessary space, “don’t those take a lot of money to get?”

 

“No, trust me!” Ako loudly responded as she put a coin into the machine, hearing the machine whir to life, “Rinrin’s a master at these, just watch her!”   
  


“Ahh, I’m no master, Ako,” Rinko shyly admitted as she moved the joystick left and right, her hands slow yet precise, “just reflexes I picked up from computer games.”

 

“Your gamer power! Demonic gamer power!”

“A-Ako, no…”

 

Tomoe watched as the pair went eerily silent as Rinko focused her eyes on the claw. Even if the older girl renounced any sort of ‘power’ to her, Tomoe was sure she had something up her sleeve as she watched the claw lower itself, grabbing the box and dropping it in a way that let it slip through the narrow gap, sending the box tumbling down on her first try.

 

“YAAAY! YOU DID IT RINRIN!” Ako shouted as she threw her arms around Rinko, suffocating the frightened girl in a spontaneous hug, “thank you, my loyal-est demon; Ako would have needed to use all her demonic energy to pull off a spell that strong!”

 

“I-It’s nothing, really,” Rinko explained as she grabbed the box from the prize chute, “would you like me to put this in my bag while we walk around some more?”

 

“Yeah!”

* * *

“Your spacing is OK, Ako, but your okizeme is really weak. You need to juggle multiple wakeup options so that you’re not easily readable.”

“What should I be doing, Rinko?”

“I suggest either an unblockable setup if you have the bar for it, or spacing yourself so that you can throw out a hitbox that can cover multiple wakeup options.”

“Ahhh, ok!”

 

_ What in the hell are they talking about…  _

 

Standing beside a poster-covered pillar, Tomoe watched (well, not really watched as much as stared in confusion) as Rinko and Ako sat opposite from each other, sitting in front of white plastic-framed cabinets. Once or twice Tomoe had leaned over to take a peek at Ako’s screen, but amidst a visual mess of bars, flashing lights and characters moving around screen, Tomoe was unsure if what she was looking at was an actual game. 

 

It wasn’t as if she didn’t want to be here; any time spent hanging out with her sister was bonding, which was more than fine in Tomoe’s eyes. The problem rested in the fact that Tomoe almost felt like a fish out of water in the arcade, finding it hard to keep up with or understand what the two more technology inclined girls were doing. 

 

_ What to do, what to do; I don’t wanna stand here and look like a lost little kid in front of Ako and Rinko… I may as well take out my phone so I don’t look like I’m impatient or anything.  _

Reaching into her pockets, Tomoe swiped down to check if she had missed anything of importance, only finding a text from Himari sitting in her notifications.

 

_ himariseta69: How’s the arcade? Don’t lose Ako again! _

 

Seeing that Himari was still online, Tomoe took her chances and messaged back.  _ Well, here goes nothing… _

  
  


_ UTomo: hey himari are u there _

_ himariseta69: yeah wats up _

_ UTomo: im at the arcade with ako and rinko and i dont know whats going on what should i do _

_ himariseta69: ?? why dont you play with them? _

_ UTomo: theyre on a different level i cant understand half the things theyre saying _

_ himariseta69: hmmmm _

_ himariseta69: maybe you should give rinko senpai the gun show (╯★ω★)╯ _

_ UTomo: ??? im not trying to impress rinko or anything i just dont want to look uncool in front of an upperclassman _

_ himariseta69: trust me. If theres anyone i know who doesnt need to try to look cool, its you _

_ UTomo: no gun show im not gonna flex in front of my sister thats weird _

_ himariseta69: fine then  _

_ himariseta69: uhh… leaning against the wall is cool? With like, your hands behind your head? _

_ UTomo: are you sure? _

_ himariseta69: you dont want to flex so theres no better options _

_ UTomo: fine. _

 

Taking Himari’s advice (however much she believed it would work), Tomoe leaned against the pole, arms raising so that her hands were cushioning her head. It wasn’t even that comfortable, but Himari seemed right; in all the shows she watched, doing the pose was a sign of having cool, a devil-may-care attitude. But in reality? Tomoe looked even more out of place, arms losing circulation as they were awkwardly contorted above her head.

 

_ Ugh… my arms hurt. Should I just stop posing like this? Won’t that look weird if I pose for a few seconds then stop all of a sudden? _

 

“Hey sis, you OK?”

 

Interrupted mid monologue, Tomoe looked over to see that Rinko and Ako were long since done with their fighting game, eyes already darting to and fro to see what would be next in store for them.

 

“Haha, yeah, just needed a bit of a stretch,” Tomoe lied, wrenching herself away from that uncomfortable pose. Feeling the soreness in her upper arms, Tomoe gave herself a quick massage, cursing herself for going along with Himari’s half-baked idea. But along with the feeling in her arms coming back, Tomoe also seemed to gain the attention of one of the girls in front of her, blushing as she hurriedly bent forward to pick up her tote.

 

“E-Excuse me, Tomoe!” Rinko squeaked as she picked the bag up, head looking down as to not show the rampant red that was spreading on her face. The moment that ensued was that of awkward, building silence, only broken as Ako screamed in exclamation.

 

“Rinko, Rinko, the machine is open, let’s go!!!”

 

There was no time left for Rinko to gawk or act embarrassed as she was pulled across the cramped hallways of the arcade, with Tomoe following slowly behind. By the time Tomoe caught up, Ako was already crouched in front of the two pillars that holstered big plastic pistols, shoving as many tokens as she could into the coin slot. Tomoe tried her hardest not to laugh as her sister picked up the oversized gun, watching as she struggled to balance it until she gripped it tightly with both hands, while Rinko had hers held confidently in her right hand. But before Tomoe could do anything else, the roar of a zombie through the arcade machine speakers jolted all three girls upright, with Ako and Rinko tensing themselves, ready to wage war against an ensuing (virtual) apocalypse.

 

While video games usually weren’t in her wheelhouse, Tomoe could tell by the calm and collected nature that they duo had that this wasn’t their first time playing a light-gun game. 

 

_ The last time I saw people playing a game like this, Himari was screaming at the top of her lungs, and Moca was firing while looking away from the screen... _

 

But unlike her bandmates, Rinko and Ako were in near unison, experience probably gained from hundred of hours of MMO sessions. Both girls were scarily focus, barking commands like some sort of military strike team. 

 

“Ako, duck behind the wall; there’s a zombie that’s going to shoot acid at us!”

“Y-Yeah, I got it Rinrin!”

 

Ako’s tense composure isn’t too far from what Tomoe’s seen before, having watched her practicing at home or studying for her classes. 

 

But it’s Rinko’s face that catches her attention. No longer was there a girl who cowered at the slightest bit of public interaction, or blended herself into the background like a meek wallflower. This was that Rinko that Tomoe’s only seen when Roselia performed; a Rinko that was confident.  And to Tomoe, that combination was a dangerous thing. 

 

Tomoe wasn’t usually one to fall into trances, but there was just something about this new side to Rinko that had her in some sort of spell. The flashing lights and blaring noises of the arcade seemed to leave Tomoe’s mind, only able to focus on the scene in front of her. She watched as Rinko expertly landed a headshot on a zombie, giving herself a small fistpump as the screen indicated the completion of a stage.  _ I didn’t know she was like this…  _ Tomoe thought to herself as she watched Rinko brush an errant lock of hair from her eyes, 

 

_ woah… _

 

All Tomoe’s efforts to bring about an air of coolness to herself were thrown out the window, all thanks to a girl in a beautiful dress. She was kicking herself mentally; it wasn’t usually like her to act all fluttery and nervous; she was always the one to come to for advice, but here she was, watching in a mix of amazement and speechlessness. She couldn’t believe that of all times to have her heart skip a beat, to feel the echo of a butterfly fluttering in her chest, was watching her sister’s best friend shooting zombies with a plastic light gun.  _ God, I’m a mess, aren’t I. _

 

“C’mon Rinrin!!! Gettem gettem gettem! Do the thing!”   
  


Tomoe watched as Ako shouted and jumped around, her plastic gun already holstered as she cheered her friend on. Looking at the screen Tomoe could see that Ako’s side of the screen was greyed out, probably an indication that Ako had long since lost the credits she had put into the machine. But even as Rinko tensed her shoulders and shot to the best of her abilities, her efforts were for naught, a blood, splattered “You Died” flashing on the screen. 

 

Slumping over in defeat, Rinko sighed as the tension left her body, her shoulders slouching and her head hanging low “Phew… that part was really hard, huh,” Rinko said in between exasperated breaths, “but I really like the ducking system in this compared to last game.”

 

“Yeah! It has the roll which is cool, and it makes you dodge stuff faster!” Ako exclaimed, with an energy that was almost the opposite of Rinko’s, “did I look cool shooting all the zombies, sis?”   
  
Tomoe gave a half-baked laugh, realizing that she didn’t really pay attention to the screen, remembering the past few minutes as a girl-induced blur. “Yeah, you did awesome!” Tomoe replied, hoping that Ako wouldn’t clamour on for any specific points she liked, “but you’d better not tell Mom and Dad that I let you play that; it looked a bit dangerous.”

 

Hearing Tomoe bring up the mature nature of the game, Rinko shot up, her face worried and panicked. “O-Oh… should we not have played? I didn’t know, s-sorry for not stopping--”

 

“No, it’s OK, I just--”   
“A-Are you sure? Girls her age shouldn’t…”

“No no, really, it’s fine, I was just joking and--”

“O-Oh! Sorry, I didn’t even process that it was a joke, I--”

 

Amidst the sorry display that was Tomoe and Rinko tripping over their words, Ako walked away from the two, heading towards the washrooms. “Geez, you two are weird,” Ako yelled, breaking apart the awkward tension that was building, “I’m gonna use the washroom though, can I meet up with you guys at the front near the benches?”

 

“Ah, OK,” Tomoe answered, breathing a sigh of relief as she was saved from embarrassing herself even further, “don’t go and take a detour for “one more game”, ya hear me?”

* * *

Rinko was used to long silences. She was never good with speaking, or social interactions for that matter, so simply sitting beside someone was all but fair game to her; nothing that she should be this worked up over. But being beside Tomoe, who was sitting leaned back, arm propping herself up so that her body was facing Rinko’s peripheres was an entirely different story. And whether her bad posture was on purpose or not, Rinko (like most other girls in this situation) couldn’t help but stare. She never though something as trivial as waiting for Ako to get back from the washroom could be this agonizingly embarrassing, but here she was. All she could really do was sit and wait for Ako come back before Rinko’s will to not look at Tomoe’s stomach broke down.

 

For someone so comfortable talking with almost anyone, Tomoe was simply at a loss of words.  _ What do I talk to her about? It’s not like we have a lot in common besides knowing Ako…  _ Unable to stand another minute of silence, Tomoe turned to Rinko and did the first thing that could come to mind as she faced her upperclassman.

“A-Ah… your outfit is nice, Rinko…”

Blindsided by the sudden compliment, Rinko looked down as she straightened out the skirt of the dress, “Thank you… Lisa picked it out for me.”

 

“And she did a really good job in it, you look gorgeous—”

 

Tomoe looked turned away in panic, cursing her mind for blurting out the first thing that came to it. _Real smooth, me. Reaaal smooth._ _So much for ‘breaking the silence.’_ The silence was deafening, and turning around to face her fears, Tomoe could see why. Rinko’s face was bright red, hands gripping onto her skirt for dear life. Giving herself (and Rinko) a few more moments to settle, Tomoe tried again to try and make any conversation that wouldn’t end in disaster.

“Thank you again for joining us today on such short notice; Ako is so spontaneous with stuff like this, and I thought that you would have been busy with other things.”

 

“Ah… it’s not worry,” Rinko murmured, her blush dying down and her grip loosening from her clothes, “I-- um… have to thank you for accompanying us, you must have been really bored and all without your friends.”

 

“Ah, it’s all good! Ako had a good time, and that’s what matters to me! I should be thanking you for coming along; she can be quite a handful.”

 

“It’s no worry, hanging out with Ako is never a chore,” Rinko remarks, basking in the little glory that comes with Tomoe’s thanks, “if it weren’t for her, I don’t think I’d be able to have fun with you--”

 

“I’m back! I hope I didn’t keep my familiars waiting for too long!” Coming from seemingly nowhere, Ako jumped in front of Tomoe and Rinko striking one of her usual chunni poses. “I must thank you, loyalest demon for gracing me with your presence today,” Ako began, intermittently switching between sillier and sillier poses, “but I must retreat, for I have be summoned by the Powers Most High, who… umm… who...“

 

“Called you?”

 

“Y-Yes!” My mom sent me a text and told me that I have to head out soon.”

 

“Ahh, well if that’s the case,” Rinko stated, as she got up off of the bench, lifting her tote, “I think I’ll be headed off as well, I’m all tuckered out after all we did today.”

 

“Yeah! We had so so much fun!” Ako shouted, earning a quick ‘quiet down!’ from her older sister, “I wanna do this again sometime!”

 

“Y-Yes that’d be wonderful.” Waving the two girls off, Rinko mentally gave herself a pat on the back. Not only did she get out of the house for a change, but she got to spend time with her best friend--

 

“It was a pleasure getting to know you, Rinko! I can’t wait to hang out with you more!”

 

And her best friend’s hot sister.

 


	3. Post-Live Panic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Today's venue of being a lesbian disaster? Post-live show party. The lesbian disaster in question? Rinko Shirokane.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will I ever stop embarrassing Rinko and Tomoe? Probably not, LOL
> 
> At least this has YukiRan in it now! I love how cute their dynamic was and I wanted to put my own sort of spin on it!

Dark, musty, loud, stuffy. To most people, conditions like these would be unfavourable, dungeon-like, to be put into better terms. But to both Roselia and Afterglow, it was their musical battleground, a war fought to gain the hearts of fans. GALAXY may have been barely passing in terms of health inspector checks, but it made up for it in spades with the deafeningly loud crowds it tended to rein in.

 

Today was a special set of circumstances; a dual concert between Roselia and Afterglow. Both bands had originally planned for a standard gig setlist, but plans had apparently fallen through. While stage time (and a bit of extra pocket change) was but a superficial issue, the concern of being able to finish a whole show loomed in the back of the performers’ minds until the prospect of a catered afterparty was brought up.

 

Usually, Yukina would keep the rest of the girls backstage, performing the necessary precautions (string adjustments, vocal exercises, making sure Ako had drumsticks) well before their stage time. But with Afterglow opening the show, Yukina seemed to be more lax with her usual stringent schedule, instead devoting Roselia’s usual prep time into what she called “strategic observance”. Even with the overly descriptive title, none of the girls were fooled into thinking that Yukina didn’t just want to watch her girlfriend perform.

 

“Hey, Ran looks really pretty, hmm?” Lisa teased as she elbowed Yukina, who had her eyes closely trained on Afterglow singer, “Oh my, is she wearing--”

 

“She took it from me and didn’t give it back,” Yukina quickly butted in, hoping that no one else could piece together the fact that Yukina’s signature brooch was on Ran’s guitar strap, “s-she says it gives her good luck…” Looking down, Rinko could see Yukina’s hand fidget as she explained herself, playing with a black chain adorned with a stylized “A”.

 

Rinko had seen plenty of bands, both ameteur and pro performing on that stage. By far, the thing that seemed to catch her eyes again and again was the camaraderie that she could see in knowing glances and reassuring smiles. And while on paper Afterglow was still a novice band, they made up for it in spades in the close bond that the five of them shared, something Roselia could only hope to strive for. Standing near the cusp of the ecstatic jumping crowd, Rinko could feel the passion in every uttered word, every string strummed, and--

 

“Isn’t my sister so cool, Rinko?!”  Ako shouted, bouncing up and down, trying to catch a glimpse of her sister on stage, “That’s the kind of intense demon… um… demon…”

 

“Power?”

 

“Yeah! I wanna be as cool as her!”

 

There wasn’t much of a need for Ako to direct Rinko’s attention towards Afterglow’s drummer. Even though her attention would be better directed towards watching Tsugumi’s stage presence on the keyboard, Rinko’s eyes were transfixed to Tomoe from the very first beat. For a fleeting moment, Rinko felt as if she was watching Afterglow for the same reasons as Yukina; that so-called “strategic observance” to an instrument that she didn’t play. Watching as Afterglow performed Jamboree Journey, Rinko could feel her face burn the tiniest bit every time Tomoe’s strong voice would pipe up. She didn’t want to admit it, but even the cowbell playing during Jamboree Journey was enough to bring a blush to her face. _I sure am a mess, aren’t I…_ Prying her all-encompassing attention away from the redhead in a crop top, Rinko could hear a voice calling to her amidst the blaring of stage speakers and crowd chants.

 

“…Rinrin! Earth to Rinrin?”

 

“A-Ah!” Rinko squeaks, caught in the embarrassing realization that she’s been so focused on watching Tomoe that she doesn’t notice that all her bandmates have already left.

 

“C’mon, we were trying to call you!” Ako shouts, doing her best to be heard over the start of another song being played, “the demon empress Yukina calls upon her servants to begin the ritual!”

* * *

“Thank you for the wonderful show, everyone!” a voice shouts from the center of the room, “let’s give a big round of applause for both Afterglow and Roselia for their performances today!” Amidst the clapping and cheering of both Galaxy staff members and musicians, Rinko sat comfortably in the corner of the room, hoping to not draw too much attention to herself as she absentmindedly sipped an empty cup, hoping to look as if she was too occupied to talk to. It wasn’t as if she had any ill will towards anyone in the room, that was far from it. The truth of the matter boiled down to Rinko’s most basic aspects; crowds were a no-go for her, and anything more than a few people talking with her at once was a cause to be nervous. If anything, Rinko was just happy to see everyone relaxing and having a good time.

 

Off to one corner Rinko spotted Yukina and Ran sitting beside each other, neither looking in the other’s eyes as they held hands. And off to the side bearing witness were Moca and Lisa, howling with laughter and throwing light teases to the two vocalists.

 

“Aww, you two are so cuuute~” Moca loudly exclaimed, her voice layered in copious amounts of over-exaggeration, “I can’t wait for the proposal concert next month~”

 

“I’ll gut you, Moca,” Ran growled back, all the while rubbing her thumb on Yukina’s hand, “w-we were too busy with rehearsals to get to see each other, OK?”

 

“Ahhh, so that’s why Yukina was cleaning her room yesterday,” Lisa piped in, “aww, that’s so cute; make sure you close the curt--”  


“L-Lisa!!”

Turning away from the couple-caused chaos, Rinko scanned around the room, spotting Himari, Tsugumi and Sayo over at the catering table. By the alert looks in their eyes, Rinko could guess that they didn’t want any attention drawn to themselves as ample amounts of cake, fries and other assorted goodies were piled onto plates.

 

As the trio made their way to an adjacent table, Rinko made the mistake of locking eyes with Sayo, who’s plate was nearly buckling under the mountain of fries she had taken from the table. Sayo stared at her with an intense yet fearful look in her eyes, signalling a ‘shh’ motion with her finger to try to not draw any more attention than she was getting at this moment. And judging by the shame that seemed to exude from that side of the room, Rinko decided to keep that secret as it was. For a moment, Rinko debated on whether or not to get something from the table (there was a delightfully decadent red velvet cake sitting on the pedestal that she couldn't help but stare at), but that would require way too many things of her:

 

  * Getting up off of her seat and pushing through a crowd of strangers.
  * Having to face the possibility of talking to one of the employees, whom she’s never talked to.
  * Potentially losing her seat (playing gachas isn’t ideal standing up)



 

_Maybe I’ll just grab something later after people have left...or maybe I’ll ask Ako to fetch something for me..._

 

“Rinriiin!” a voice shouted from amidst the crowd, “Rinrin, where are you?”

 

“Ah, I’m right here,” Rinko yelled back in as loud as a voice as she could muster. It didn’t take much to guess who was calling out to her, and after a few moments, her suspicious were correct, as Ako came nearly barrelling towards her, a donut in hand and in mouth.

 

“Chomowh chol muh chuu buhrin chuu chumsing!!!” Ako exclaimed in muffled words, indiscernible with the donut in her mouth. Rinko gave her friend a calm, yet confused smile, hoping that she would realize the fact that she didn’t get a single word that she was saying. Rinko watched as Ako held out the other donut that was in her hand, a powered one that looked to be jelly-filled. “Ah gaw chis por chuu!”

 

“Ako! What did I say about talking with your mouth full?” From behind Ako, Rinko could see Tomoe walking up to her sister with a embarrassed look on her face. “Sorry, she gets really excited when there’s too many sweets,” Tomoe explained, scratching the back of her head, “I think what she was trying to say was that I told her to bring something for you while we were getting snacks.”

 

“Ah, that makes makes sense,” Rinko thanked as she took the waiting donut from Ako’s hands, “I was mulling over whether or not to take something from the table later, but you two ended up thinking of me.” Even though her words were but a simple thanks, Tomoe quickly turned away, hiding her face from Rinko, who was taking a gentle bite from her donut. _Ah… she’s really cute._

 

“Aha, it was all Ako! I didn’t have anything to do with it,” Tomoe rambled, knowing full well that she took more than a few seconds to mull over which flavour Rinko would like the best, “s-so anyways, didja enjoy the show?”  


“Yes, you were all marvelous,” Rinko beamed, trying to piece her words together to make it seem like she wasn’t simply gushing over Tomoe, “the band’s energy and synergy was wonderful; it made me want to watch Afterglow perform more often.”

 

“Aha, that’s refreshing, it makes me really happy to see someone talented as you compliment us!”

 

“T-Talented like me?”

 

“Yeah, you were scary cool Rinko,” Tomoe went on, a glint of something akin to admiration in her eyes, “after our set finished up we went to watch you guys play afterwards, you guys are on a whole other level!”  


“Mmpmhpmh!” Ako yelled, still working her way through the donut.

 

“Yeah, you’re as crazy onstage as you always are,” Tomoe replied as she rustled her sister’s hair, “but yeah; watching you playing on stage had the same intensity as when we went to the arcade together, y’know?”

 

“O-Oh, you were watching me?”

 

Catching Tomoe all but caught in the act, the usually cool and collected redhead devolved into a mess of blabbering and excuses. _Did I really just tell my sister’s best friend that I stared at her during her show? God, I’m starting to sound like Ran…._

 

“Ah-- well, um, yeah, I was watching all of Roselia play, y’know,” Tomoe blubbered on, doing no actual good to the situation at hand, “and um, you’re there too, of course!” All the while, Ako was seemingly oblivious to all of this, mindlessly finishing her donut as her best friend and sister talked themselves into disastrously lesbian corners.

 

“I-It’s OK, I-- um, I watched you play too,” Rinko exclaimed, feeling the awkwardness compound and grow with each passing second,  “you were really hot-- I-I-I MEAN SWEATY-- I MEAN-- UH…I--”

 

Before Tomoe could even begin to react to Rinko’s slip-up, the girl was already halfway across the room in an instant, making a beeline to the bathroom in an attempt to hide away from the utter shame she was feeling at this very moment.

“Did something happen to Rinrin?” Ako asked as she finally finished the donut in her hands.

 

“I… I don’t know,” Tomoe responded, her mind reeling and her face madly blushing.

 

* * *

Rinko was, to put it in better terms, not okay. Not only did she mess up at something as simple as social interaction, she doubled down on her public incompetence by calling a girl sweaty. Rinko had a long, ever-growing list of ‘things that I have done in public that I probably ended up crying about later at home’, but those few minutes alone were probably at the top of her list. Embarrassed tears welling in her eyes, Rinko stood in one of the stalls drowning in the shame, hoping a bite of the donut that Ako gave her would be enough to quell the emotions racing through her mind.

 

_Creeeak_

 

Hearing the sound of the door swinging open, Rinko immediately began to fear the worst, probably expecting to have to awkwardly apologize to Tomoe.

 

“T-Tomoe, I’m really sorry about all that, I didn’t mean to--”

 

“Oh, it’s not Tomoe, dear,” a familiarly feminine voice interrupted, the clicking of the girls heels echoing through the washroom. Out of nowhere, Rinko heard a knock on the door of her stall, accompanied with the same voice. “Hey, it’s Lisa, don’t be scared, Rinko.” At the sound of the familiar name, Rinko opened the door to see Lisa, her warm, motherly aura already soothing her anxious mind.

 

“I have a lot of questions to why you would be apologizing to Tomoe of all people inside of a bathroom stall, but,” Lisa began, an uncharacteristically coy smile plastered on her face,

 

“I happened to overhear that you two went to the arcade together, and I’d _love_ to hear an explanation about that~”

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Big big thanks to both Em (https://twitter.com/chkariko) and Brandon (https://twitter.com/bb_brandon918) for reading through and editing this! Thank you both (they're also writers as well, please read their work too!)


	4. Signed with a Heart, Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rinko and Lisa discuss Rinko's growing affection for Tomoe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to split this chapter of the story in two, for two reasons:
> 
> 1\. I am pretty busy for the next month or so and didn't want to go this long without updating ^^;;  
> 2\. This chapter in particular was getting to be really long and I thought this would be a great scene transition!
> 
> Anyways, I hope you enjoy!

“So...  you’re into handsome, strong girls, hmm, Rinko?” 

“L-Lisa!”

“Just messin’ with ya~”

 

_ So much for 'sage advice from Roselia’s very own mom friend'...  _ Rinko sighed as Lisa laughed a bit to herself, obviously a bit more than please at her own joke. The worst part? It wasn't entirely false. The big list in Rinko’s mind of “why Tomoe Udagawa is  ~~ girlfriend material ~~ really nice” was slowly starting to grow, and at a rate that was too much for her weak lesbian heart. Taking a large sip from her latte, Rinko relaxed herself, trying to at least break through her minds’ self-imposed anxiety. “I-I don’t know if I like her, Lisa,” she began, “just that… with all the time I’ve spent with Tomoe, she’s been on my mind a bit, that’s all.”

 

“I see… so what was your reason for calling me over? Lisa asked, curious as to why Rinko would want meet in person, rather than texting, “not that I don’t love spending time with my gals!”

 

“Ah, I just figured that you know best about this kind of stuff,” Rinko confessed, “you’re always really wise and helpful, and you helped get Yukina and Ran get together, if I remember correctly.”

 

"Oh honey, I barely had to lift a finger when it came to getting those two together," Lisa laughed, as shellacked fingernails tapped again an empty coffee cup, " do you know how many 'private inter-band meetings' those two had before they even dated?" Lisa gave a faux fan of her hand, “last time I checked, swapping spit wasn’t my definition of a band meeting!” Lisa gave a laugh; Rinko didn’t exactly know what Lisa’s comment entailed, but for the sake of her lead singer, Rinko figured to leave that up to imagination. “So anyways, back to the more pressing matter at hand,” Lisa began, a more serious tone beginning to drip through, “why Tomoe of all people? She doesn’t exactly seem like your type, if I had to guess.”

 

“She’s just nice, that’s all...“

Rinko absentmindedly plays with her hands, twiddling jittery thumbs as she tries her best to come off as uninterested.

 

“Now now, no need to give me the runaround, Rinko,” Lisa jokes, taking Rinko’s lithe hands with her own, “it’s just you and ol’ auntie Lisa, no need to be nervous~”

 

The silence in their conversation becomes deafening, the lull of the cafe around the duo seemingly raising in non-existent volume. Lisa can only watch as Rinko’s mouth opens and closes in a seemingly pitiful attempt to let out her feelings. _ Patience, Lisa. Don’t wanna go making Rinko even more agitated than she must be already. _

 

“She makes my heart warm,” a whisper begins, “she seems so strong and confident…

I feel safe around her.”

 

The more Rinko began to speak, the more Lisa could feel the girl calming down, as if the very mention of Tomoe was like a cup of chamomile tea. “And even though I didn’t talk to her because I was scared, she gave me such a big smile,” Rinko rambled, seemingly caught up in sapphic fantasies, “and she’s really thoughtful and nice and pretty that… that I…” Catching herself rambling, Rinko laid her head on the table, covering up what she could with her arms to hide the blatant blush on her face. “P-Please disregard anything I said…”

 

_ Ahh… how cute… _

 

“So it is just a bit more than a like, hmm?” Lisa watches as Rinkos head slightly nods up and down.

 

“Do you have a crush on Tomoe, Rinko?” A moment of hesitation follows, accompanied by a yet another nod. Lisa can’t help but smile; it seemed like it was just yesterday when she had first met Rinko to which she could barely keep non-digital conversation, but here she was, engaging in Lisa’s most coveted form of conversation: girl talk. “I can’t believe it, our very own Rinko is growing up,” Lisa stifles as she makes a fake sniffing noise, wiping away a non-existent tear, “kids just grow up so fast…”

 

“We’re the same age…”

 

“I  _ know _ , just being dramatic, Rinko~” Lisa responds as she watching the girl in front of her lifting her head up off the table, “so do you have a plan to tell her--”

 

“Oh, no no no, that’s simply out of the question,” Rinko interrupts, holding her hands out to Lisa, “I barely know her, and besides, she probably has a line of girls waiting for her…”  _ What chance would I have with someone so out of my league… _

 

“Mmm, but even if there is a line, I wouldn’t say that you don’t have a fighting chance Rinko.”   
“W-What do you mean?”

“For one, you’re drop dead gorgeous,” Lisa began, a fierce sort of optimism in her voice, “seriously, I would fight a woman on the streets for lashes that long and hair that smooth; and not to mention your--”

 

“L-Lisa!”

“Ah! Back to the point,” Lisa continued, stirring ice cubes in an already empty glass, “you’re not giving yourself nearly enough credit, Rinko; any girl would be lucky to love someone so patient and kind.” This wasn’t Lisa’s first time playing matchmaker and wingwoman; it was a perk that was gained by being the “dependable and motherly” friend. And for a girl, who could barely look her in the eyes when she first met her, Lisa knew that her pushes would need to be gentle. “Tell ya what, how about I let you take it at your pace, and let you get to know her,” Lisa explained, holding up her phone, “and if there’s ever a… what we might call a ‘lesbian emergency’, you give me a call and I’ll help ya. How does that sound?”

 

“That’d be nice… thank you again for sitting down with me to talk through something so trivial.”

“Nonsense! For a good friend, there's no need to thank me; I just wanted to help a friend in need, that’s all~”

 

_ Buzz buzz buzz _

 

“Ah! One second, sorry Lisa.” Pulling out her phone from her clutch, Rinko checked to see what notification was important enough to interrupt her heart to heart with Lisa.

 

superawesomedemongirl3: the demon requires your request of what her most powerful demon general would partake in sustenance most unholy!!! 

 

_ Ah, it almost slipped my mind… _

 

xXxDarkSorceressxXx: pizza is good ヽ(・∀・)ﾉ

 

Out of respect to Lisa sitting in front of her, Rinko quickly placed her phone back in her bag, not wanting to keep her sitting and watching her text. “Sorry about that, Ako just wanted to ask about stuff for our tutoring session.”

 

“Right right, I shouldn’t be keeping you here too much longer,” Lisa mused, reaching behind to pull her coat off of her chair, “and remember to text me if anything  _ spicy _ happens~”

 

“Nothing  _ s-spicy _ will happen Lisa... I think it’ll just be me and Ako at home,” Rinko whined, knowing full well that her friend was taking subtle jabs at her, “but yes, I think it’s time for us to head out.” Getting up off her seat, Rinko did a quick once over to make sure her outfit wasn't made unpresentable; skirt not riding up? Check. Cardigan not statically stuck to her shirt? Double check.

 

“Are you sure you're not going out on a date, Rinko?” Lisa teased, taking another look at her friend's outfit, “no girl goes out in knee-high boots and faux glasses just to tutor someone~”

 

“I just wanted to dress up a bit, that's all…”

“Whatever you say, Rinko,” Lisa called out as the two of them walked in tandem towards the cafe's entrance, “but you seem to always dress a bit more risque whenever Tomoe has the chance of showing up, just like your first date!”

 

“W-Wait, it wasn’t a--”

“Just messing with you! Go get ‘em, tiger~”

 


	5. Signed with a Heart, Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rinko helps not one, but two Udagawas finish their math homework, with varying degrees of success.

“Is this right, Rinrin?”

“N-No, but you’re close,” Rinko explained, adding purple ink on top of Ako’s pencil scrawlings, “you forgot to divide everything by two afterwards… and you don’t need to add ‘the dark demon believes that the answer is’ to all of your answers.”

Leaning her chair backwards, Ako let out a dissatisfied groan as she looked at the (lack of) progress she had made with her math homework. While she was more than grateful that Rinko was willing to help her out with her math homework instead of their usual video game get togethers, the fact of the matter was that Ako and homework didn’t mix. No self respecting demon empress would give up valuable magic training (running raids with her guild) for a bunch of papers, but she knew that she was in for a lot more than Hell if she slacked off in school. “Rinrin, can we take a break?” Ako pleaded, “I don’t think I could stare at a math problem for another minute…”

 

Rinko hesitated as she weighed her options. They had only finished about half of Ako’s assigned questions, and there was no telling how long this “break” would be, especially if it entailed any sort of gaming. But from the looks of it, Ako’s mind was as far as it could have been from focused, and she was willing to bet that the younger girl was getting hungry as well. “Fine,” Rinko said as she set her pen down on the table, “but we’re only stopping to eat, okay?”

 

“Yay! Thank you Rinrin!”

* * *

 

To Tomoe, Saturdays were a gift from Babanbo themselves. Sleeping In, napping, and the ability to simply do nothing was a godsend in a life full of rehearsals, school and dance practice. Sure, she had homework and music sheets to go over, but who could turn down a good afternoon nap?

 

Rousing from her afternoon slumber, Tomoe unceremoniously tossed the sheets off of herself, blindly patting down her bed until it came into contact with her phone. Tired eyes strained at the bright white as they attempted to scan for any important notifications she had missed. A missed call from a telemarketer, some notifications on a picture she had posted; nothing of any real importance seemed to have happened while she was asleep. But her household told a different story, with unintelligible banter coming from down the halls.

 

 _There’s someone here helping Ako with homework, right? Is it one of her classmates? Maybe it's the funky glasses girl who went crazy on the stage with that guitar…_ But more enticing than the prospect of a stranger at home was the alluring scent of food that made her stomach rumble. She remembered that Ako had asked her parents to have a pizza delivered so that she could eat something while she was doing her work, and Tomoe was willing to risk having a stranger seeing her in her pyjamas just to take a slice or two.

 

Truding out from her bedroom, Tomoe errantly scratched at her stomach, holding back a yawn as she made her way over to the kitchen. Looking at their dining table, Tomoe could see a pair of pencil bags, a stack of papers and a tote, indicating that the session was still going on. Waltzing her way over to the open box, she could see that half of the pizza was still accounted for. Even so, Tomoe wasn’t one to simply take food without asking.

 

“Hey Ako, are you here?” she called out.

“Oh!! Sis, I thought you went out today!” _Ah, they’re probably in the living room or something._   
“No, I just slept in,” Tomoe shouted back, “hey, is it alright if I have a slice of pizza?”

“Yeah, sure!”

 

Scanning the box for the most appetizing looking slice, Tomoe ripped her share off, taking a large bite as she walked into the living room.

 

“... and can you believe that he has a special animation when you win a battle?!” From behind the couch, Tomoe could see that Ako and her tutor had just finished playing a game. And although she was able to see the girl’s long, black hair, the eye glasses and hat just didn’t add up to anyone that she could remember off the top of her head.

 

“Yes, I’m really happy with how he turned out,” a calm voice replied, “I can’t wait to see how the other characters will turn out.”

 

 _Ah, it’s Rinko; I’d recognize that voice anywhere!_ Tomoe thought, _W-Wait… when did I start to pay attention to her voice?_ But even as Tomoe attempted to stave off any awkward emotions with mouthfuls of pizza, there was no stopping that little voice in her mind.

 

 _You recognize your little sister’s_ ~~_cute_ ~~ _best friend, solely through the sound of her voice! You big lesbian! Face the facts!_

 

Tomoe gave a great sigh. While she was approaching the levels of a total mess, there was still one thing stopping her from just retreating back into her room without making a fool of herself: she needed to at least greet Rinko; she was their guest, of course. Making her way over to a seat that was beside the couch that the two were on, Tomoe spotted something out of the ordinary: a fork and knife.

 

“Pizza with cutlery?” Tomoe asked as she rounded the corner of the couch, “y’know, there’s a bready side to hold it with for a reason!”

 

“Aha… you’re right,” Rinko reasoned, “I’m only eating it like this so i don’t smudge my lipstick…”  


And as Tomoe came face to face with the duo enjoying their food, Tomoe could see why Rinko was taking such caution with her food. Her lips were a brilliant shade of red, something she wasn’t used to seeing from the meek girl who preferred to let herself blend into the background. And honestly? It looked good on Rinko.  Really good.  Tomoe was used to having girls fawn over her, whether it was on purpose or not. But even just glancing at Rinko, whose pursed lips paired perfectly with her glasses sent her mind into the panic that all those other girls must have felt. She seemed more mature, more elegant; and those li--   
  
“Are you sick, sis? You look like you’re heating up!”

 

Tomoe was an absolute mess, physically and emotionally. Here she was, in a raggedy t-shirt (with some serious bedhead), ogling Rinko for seemingly no reason. Caught in a panic, Tomoe let her instincts kick in, stuffing the entire rest of the slice into her mouth, walking away from eyesight from the other two girls. Nearly choking on the food she had unceremoniously crammed into her mouth, Tomoe attempted to laugh off the embarrassment that was plastered on her face. “Haha, I’m doing great!,” Tomoe explained, giving a fake wipe of her brow, “I just, uh… I couldn’t handle the spice of that pizza, y’know?”

 

“Sis… that was Hawaiian.”

 

_Ah._

 

“I’ll… I’ll see myself out.”

* * *

 

There was a lot that Tomoe was experiencing right now. The shaking of her hands, the oiliness of her face from the pizza, and a hot wash of shame and embarrassment, flushing her cheeks red. As red as the very lipstick that got her into this mess. The lipstick that Tomoe just couldn’t get out of her mind. Making sure the door was firmly shut behind her, Tomoe ran to her bed, jumping face first into her pillow before letting out a guttural scream. There just wasn’t any more beating around the bush anymore; she was in over her head in emotions, with only one thing to blame.

 

She had a huge crush on Rinko Shirokane. 

 

Lying there in a haze of disbelief and clouded judgement, Tomoe considered what to do next. _There’s no sense in just waiting around until tension becomes unbearable… I don’t want to do what Ran did._ Tomoe mentally scratched ‘wait 4 months until the only thing left to do is scream about your crush on the school roof, only for her to hear’ off the list of ways to tackle this situation. Frustrated at this whole situation, Tomoe tossed and turned in bed, only to fling herself off and land with an unceremonious **thud** on the floor. _Great. Reaaal great._ Rolling on her side to make sure she hadn’t hurt herself in anyway, Tomoe scanned her floor. But amidst clothes, papers and dust, there wasn’t anything too interesting--

 

_My math homework!_

 

Tomoe had an idea. A very stupid and juvenile idea. An idea so contrived and overdone that there was no way it was going to work. But a quitter’s attitude wasn’t what made Afterglow a success, so it was at least worth a try, right?

 

Besides, she _was_ stuck on a few of these questions.

* * *

The longer the day went on, the more Rinko was beginning to regret letting Lisa tease her. With everything that had occured in such a short span of time, she was having trouble telling if Tomoe’s actions were pure coincidence or something more. But unfortunately, there wasn’t a lot of time to dwell on things. There was homework that needed to be finished. Luckily for her, the pizza and rest was doing wonders for Ako’s focus (along with a promise to play games after the tutoring session was over). Checking once more to make sure the younger girl wasn’t struggling too much, Rinko checked her phone to make sure she didn’t miss anything too important. Amidst student council group chat banter and digital game sale notifications, Rinko caught a glimpse of a text notification.

* * *

Lisa ♥: So, how’s the date going~

 

xXxDarkSorceressxXx: its not a date!!!

 

xXxDarkSorceressxXx: but she was here and i didnt expect that

 

Lisa ♥: ooooh

 

Lisa ♥: spill the deets!!!

 

xXxDarkSorceressxXx: uh

 

xXxDarkSorceressxXx: she stuffed a slice of pizza in her mouth and then ran off

 

Lisa ♥: oh

 

Lisa ♥: was it like, cute?

 

xXxDarkSorceressxXx: no????????????????

 

xXxDarkSorceressxXx: idk she looked all red and stuff but i could be imagining that

 

Lisa ♥: !!!

 

Lisa ♥: dont just imagine things!!! Take every chance you get! Maybe that pizza was a sign!!! Go for it!!!!!

 

xXxDarkSorceressxXx: she ran into her room after that happened but ill try

* * *

 

“Rinrin, does this look right to you?”

 

Snapping back to reality, Rinko quickly looked over to scan Ako’s work. “It looks good to me!” she replied, giving her friend an encouraging smile, “you’ve really been getting a hang of this, Ako.”

 

“Thank you!” Finding inspiration in even a small burst of praise, Ako went back to tackling her homework, leaving Rinko to yet again watch expectantly for Ako to ask for help. But with the idle time came thinking, and with thinking came the looming thought at the forefront of her mind. Was she just imagining things, or was Lisa right? There was so much to consider, and to think that it all might just be a figment of her imagina--

 

“E-Excuse me… Rinko?”

 

Speak of the hot, red-headed devil.

* * *

 

Tomoe couldn’t believe what she was doing right now. There was a lot of stuff in her life that she regretted doing. Plenty of unmentionable middle school escapades, and some less than stellar life choices. But this? This took the cake. Walking into her own kitchen, in a crop top and hoodie, to ask for help (to be around Rinko) with her math homework (and hopefully get to talk to her)? This was definitely one of her worst decisions yet.

 

“I saw that you were helping Ako with her homework,” Tomoe began, already regretting every brain cell synapse that had brought her to this point, “a-and I wanted to ask if you could check something for me-- i-if you’re not busy or anything…” _Oh god. This was the worst thing I’ve ever done. I messed up. She probably hates me now and I can never show my face to a Roselia concert ever again--_

 

“Y-Yeah, sure!” Rinko replied, maintaining direct eye contact with Tomoe (and nowhere else, especially downwards), “you can sit beside me, and I can check your work.”

 

**_IT WORKED?!?!_ **

* * *

 For someone who's claim to fame was their inviting and friendly nature, Tomoe was metaphorically (and literally) sweating bullets as she set her homework down in front of her, already thinking of ways that she could weasel herself out of this situation. _I only have a few questions left to do, so maybe I’ll just get those done, ask a few questions and run back into my room…_

 

And for a while, her plan was coming to fruition. Rinko was assisting Ako with an area problem, leaving Tomoe unpressured as she got through some of her easier problems. But after half an hour or so, Tomoe leaned back and sighed, finding herself stuck at the last, and most difficult question. Almost immediately she felt a pressure coming from her right side, and looked over to see that Rinko’s shoulder was pressed up against hers, staring down at her math homework. Which, to Tomoe, was strange, since their chairs were quite far apart. _Oh well; maybe Rinko’s cute glasses made it harder to see,_ Tomoe reasoned, _yeah, it’s definitely that, and not anything to do with her wanting to be closer to me. Yup._

 

“Ah, your factoring is a bit off,” Rinko murmured, pointing to a scrawled out (and kind of bull-shitted) solution,  “you forgot to add a negative sign when you brought this over.” Leaning a bit closer in, Rinko marked a line going from one side of the equation to the other in purple ink. And, like one of those cheesy rom-com stories that get posted onto a fanfiction website, Tomoe could feel Rinko’s gentle hand graze against hers, only to be pulled back at the sudden contact.

 

“O-Oh, sorry!”

“I-It’s OK, Rinko.”

  


Amidst the awkwardly building tension, Tomoe could hear the sounds of laughing coming from behind Rinko. Tearing her eyes away from Rinko’s face (a difficult task in and of itself), she could see Ako, failing to hold in a laugh. “What’s so funny, Ako?”

 

"I wanted to ask for help with solving the area of this sphere,” Ako began as she calmed herself down, “but you had such a goofy look in your eyes when you were staring at Rinko!” The homework-focused duo quickly parted gazes, hiding away flushed faces as their not-so-subtle attempts to ‘flirt’ had been found out.

 

And while Rinko turned her attention back to helping Ako out, Tomoe continued to look away, her mind coming to terms with everything that was happening. How could she have gone from barely getting to know Rinko, to barely being able to function around her. Well, it was a question with a multitude of answers, most of boiled down to ‘you’re a helpless lesbian who thinks pretty girls are cute’. It didn’t help that Rinko’s outfit change had thrown her for such a loop. She was so used to seeing her in modest dresses and the like that something as chic (and, dare she say pretty) as what she was wearing made it that much harder for Tomoe to keep it together. _I wonder if she’d wear something punkish if we went out together--_

 

 _Get a grip on yourself, you big dumb lesbian!_ Tomoe did her best to pull away from the fast encroaching fantasies that her mind was creating, _Babanbo help me, I really have fallen…_ Steeling what little focus she had left, Tomoe worked to finish the question that Rinko had assisted her with, giving a huge sigh as she came to a much more logical answer. Unable to contain the building embarrassment that was piling in her brain, Tomoe abruptly got out of her chair. “I-I finished the questions, if you’d like to look,” Tomoe announced as she excused herself from the kitchen table, “I’ll be right back, uh... I left something in my room! Yeah. One moment.” Even as Tomoe rushed out of the kitchen, her mind still wasn’t as calm as she wanted it to be. The whole ‘Crushing-On-Your-Sister’s-Best-Friend’ ordeal combined with the fact that she had just rudely left in front of a house guest was, to say the least, debilitating. Finding some semblance of safety in her own room, Tomoe slumped to the floor, head resting against the wall as she let out another pained groan. _This isn’t gonna end here, is it…_

* * *

  
As Rinko scanned over Tomoe’s paper, her focus was broken as a loud, incomprehensible noise came echoing through the house’s hallways. Frightened, Rinko looked towards Ako with a twinge of panic. “I-Is your sister ok?”

 

Ako shrugged as she looked up from her homework. “She wasn’t like this before you got here,” Ako explained, “maybe our pizza was cursed in an attempt to quell the evil reign of the… um.. the demon queen!.”

 

Rinko, feeling her beating heart finally calming down, laughed along with Ako’s humorous explanation. “Yeah, maybe it’s that.”

* * *

"Tomo-chin, Tomo-chin, lemme see your homework~”

 

Moca ran at Tomoe with a lunging hug, reaching around in an attempt to frisk the taller girl’s bag.

 

“You usually do your homework anyways, why ask me now?” Tomoe yelled as she fought off her math homework mugger, “besides, I didn’t end up checking for answers-- HEY!” Amidst her struggling, Tomoe failed to notice Moca’s arms sneaking around, snatching her homework from out of vision. As much as she wanted to rip her book right out of Moca’s hands, she didn’t want to risk tearing anything, lest the teacher look through her homework.

 

“If you didn’t check for answers, then what’s all this purple ink all over your paper?”

“Oh, I had someone help me yesterday.”

 

Tomoe watched as Moca flipped through her notebook, her face going from her usual neutral expression into a sly, conniving grin. This wasn’t good. Clearing her throat, Moca began to read some of the purple text that was on the bottom of the page, in a high, sing-songy voice. “You did so well Tomoe, keep at it,” Moca began, struggling to hold in a laugh, “if you ever need help, you can always call me -R♥”

 

Panic settled in as Tomoe heard the words being spoken out loud, visualizing it in Rinko’s flowing purple script. She had only skimmed her work to see if Rinko had looked at it, and, judging by the comments that she had somehow missed, Tomoe had regretted not taking a closer look. “W-Wait, I can explain--”

 

“Explain what?” Moca jeered, “that Tomo-chin got herself a sexy home tutor?” But before Tomoe could even respond to Moca’s teases, the girl had run off, barreling down the hall with her notebook in tow. And, as if to rub salt in her proverbial wounds, Tomoe could see that Moca wasn’t simply running to get away from her; she was making her way towards the rest of Afterglow, notebook waving frantically in the air.

 

_This was going to take a lot of explaining._


	6. The Secret's Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lisa and Moca trade rumors during work hours, while Tomoe lets her secret slide during Afterglow practice.

**_ring ring ring_ **

 

“Welcome~♥”

“Welcooome~”

 

A loud, droning greeting echoed as the tinny chimes of their store’s alarm rang, signalling another customer. Making sure that it wasn’t some creeper or someone causing ruckus, Moca and Lisa were happy to see that it was just some businesswoman, probably picking herself up some dinner. And as reactive as the two said their greetings, their attentions were quickly drawn back to ‘girl talk’, seeing as there wasn’t anything too pressing to do.

 

“Sooo, who did you see again, Lisa?”  
“Ok, ok, get this; I saw Kanon feeding Chisato a slice of cake at a cafe!”

 

Feigning surprise, Moca put her hands up to her face, letting out a fake-sounding gasp. “Oh my gooosh…”

 

Lisa rolled her eyes.  “You knew?”

“Tsugu told me that Kanon kissed Chisato at Hazawa cafe of all places… you’d think that her or Eve would notice, right?”

 

Lisa gave a surprised nod as she confirmed yet another budding relationship in this disastrous group of lesbians she called her friends. “It seems like it was yesterday when Ran and Yukina were still awkwardly giving each other passive aggressive pickup lines... “ Lisa gave a nostalgic sigh, “time just goes by so fast, y’know?”

 

“Lisaaa, you sound like you’re our mom or something,” Moca joked, knowing full well that Lisa’s motherly instincts were a source of help and advice for many a confused lesbian, “but you know, I’m really interested in T--”

 

**_ring ring ring_ **

 

“Welcome~♥”

“Welcooome~”

 

Moca’s thought was cut short as the entrance bells rang yet again, pulling their attention away from each other and towards the customer, or, in this case, group of customers, that entered the store. Sure, there was time to goof around, but work was still work. The group, which was most likely a group of girls coming home from school didn’t cause too much of a mess or ruckus, coming and going in a matter of minutes, snacks and drinks in hand. All the better for the duo; less mess was less work to do later.

  


“So like Moca was saying,” Moca began as she stored a pile of receipts into a box, “I may have confirmed your suspicions that there might be something between Rinko and Tomoe...”

“Ohmigosh! Spill the tea, sis!”

“But Lisa, I have a cola today…”

“Ugh, you know what I mean, Moca.”

 

“Ehe, Moca was just playing with you; Himari is always saying stuff like that, so I’m used to it,” Moca admitted, “but like I was saying; I happened to see that a certain someone left a cute little note in Tomoe’s homework yesterday!”  


Moca watched as Lisa shifted her posture, one hand propping up her chin as she listened with utmost attention. “Go on; don’t leave a girl hanging like that!”

 

“When we asked her afterwards, she told us that Rinko came over and ended up tutoring her,” Moca continued, harkening back to Tomoe desperately trying to convince the rest of Afterglow that Rinko’s message was (probably) inconspicuous.

 

“Ah, so she took my advice~”

“Did you have something to do with it, Lisa?”

“You could say something like that~”

 

Moca leaned forwards, enraptured by this especially juicy bit of gossip, “soooooo, what you’re saying is that Rinko _and_ Tomoe have crushes on eachother?” Lisa responded with a nod, all but confirming Moca’s suspicions that there was yet another budding romance between their two bands. “Oooooh, how fun~ does this mean that Lisa has a plan in store to get these two lovebirds together?”

 

“Hmm… I don’t think anything like that will need to happen,” Lisa responded, “I think I’m going to be a bit hands off with all of this; Rinko’s a shy girl, and I think she’ll need some time before anything too serious happens.”

  


“Sooooo does that mean that teasing Tomoe is fair game?”

“Not much I can do to stop you, but doing anything to Rinko is off limits.”

“Wooow Lisa, you really sound like a mom talking about her daughter’s wellbeing--”

 

**_ring ring ring_ **

 

“Welcome~♥”

“Welcooome~”

* * *

Blaring guitars, soulful lyrics and ground-shaking drums rattled the door frames of the small CiRCLE practice room as Afterglow ran through one of their various set lists. Their plan was almost always set in stone; start off loud and  powerful, rope them in for an intense and maybe slow song (or two) and then end it off with Ran screaming about something to do with the sun and friendship. Today’s practice was eerily normal, save for a few mistakes during unpracticed songs.

 

Reaching what was supposed to be a MC intermission, Ran called a quick break for the girls to stretch out. Leaning backwards in her chair, Tomoe fished her phone from her pocket, checking to see if there was anything urgent to respond to.

 

“Oooh, texting your girlfriend, Tomo-chin?”

“No, I’m just looking at--”

“Tell your girlfriend that Moca says hi then~”  
“Moca, I told you, I’m not dating anyone!”

 

A loud ‘hey!’ echoed from the other side of the room as Ran set down her water bottle. “Keep focus everyone, this is still a rehearsal,” Ran explained, staring daggers at both Moca and Tomoe, “there isn’t time to be goofing off or talking about girlfr--”

 

 _♪ ♪_ _Louder, you're my everything! Kagayaki afure yuku_ _♪ ♪_

 

Freezing mid sentence, Ran looked down at her phone, blaring her not-so-subtle ringtone for the rest of Afterglow to hear. Immediately the girl picked up her phone, answering it as she speed walked towards the door leading into the hallway.

 

“Yes, my sweet honeysuckle, darling daffodil, buttercup sugar plum, pretty pansy petal princess?” Ran whispered audibly as she stormed out of the practice room.

 

Attempting to process everything that had just transpired within the past minute, the remaining four members stood in a state of shock. Breaking their ‘we just witnessed a very awkward scene’ stasis, Moca sat down on a nearby chair, tipping its wooden legs backwards. “Guess we get a longer break today, huuuh?”

 

“Yeah, probably,: Tsugumi replied, sitting back down in front of her piano, “what was Ran so mad about in the first place, anyways?”

 

Tomoe turned to glare at Moca, staring unsuccessful daggers at the girl whose eyes were currently closed. “ _Someone_ was trying to really grind my gears.”

 

“O-Oh? About what?”

“N-Nothing really; just me and Moca, y’know, bantering as usual--”

 

“What Tomoe was trying to say,” Moca interrupted, rousing from her shut eye, “was that she’s trying to hide her girlfriend from her very bestest friends in the whole wide wooorld!”

 

Tomoe groaned, attempting to feign annoyance, when in reality, Moca wasn’t too far from the truth. It seemed that the more she ran into Rinko, the less she could get her out of her mind; her calm, voice, the tranquil but passionate stare of her eyes. Tomoe was all but lovestruck, and it wouldn’t take much for her to let the truth out.

 

Mustering whatever scowl she could manage, Tomoe attempted to stave off her feelings, for the sake of intimidation. “I told you again, I don’t have a girlfriend, Moca!” Tomoe retorted, turning her back from Moca to hopefully find solace with her more… calm bandmates, “you believe me, right Tsugu?”

 

Tsugumi gave her a reassuring nod, her trademark warm expression filling Tomoe with a sense of solidarity. “It would be nice to fall in love with someone, though,” Tsugumi mused as she leaned back into her chair, “to find that special someone that’s absolutely perfect for you…”

 

“Tsugu, you sound so maiden-like when you talk about it like that!” Himari exclaimed, catching the fantasizing Tsugumi off guard, “but now you’ve got me all curious… what is our darling Tsugu’s idea of the perfect girl?”

 

“Hmm, that isn’t something I’ve really thought about,” Tsugumi answered, eyebrows scrunched up in focus, “I think I’d like to date someone who’s responsible and serious, but has a light side to them… oh, and they’d have to like sweets too!”

 

“Oooh, for someone who hasn’t thought about it, your taste is pretty refined,” Himari teased, “Y’know, I heard that Sayo has a sweet tooth; Lisa told me about one time where she tried to buy herself a whole box of chocolate bars from her work!”

 

“O-Oh… is that so…”

 

From the corner of her eye, Himari could see Tsugumi’s expression change at the very mention of Roselia’s strict but prudent guitarist. _Maybe I might become a bit of a cupid myself; can’t let Lisa going around having all the fun…_ That could all wait though; there was some tea that she could tell was brewing right in front of her, and damn was a girl thirsting for some drama. “Your turn, Moca!”

 

Looking up from her phone, the guitarist shrugged, “Sorry to disappoint, but the last thing I could call a crush was Saaya offering me day-old bread for 50% off.”

  
“... does that mean you like Yamabuki-san?”   
“No, of course not, she’s like my mom, but for like, bread. Like a bread mom.”

“I see…”

“How about yooou, Hii-chan?~ You’ve been the one asking all of us, but you seem like the type of girl to fantasize about this stuff.”

 

Himari stood up, striking a confident pose as if she had ruminated on this question the whole time. Clearing her throat, Himari looked to the rest of her bandmates with the look of someone who had just received six nuggets in their five-piece meal.

 

“Kaoru Seta.”

 

The other three girls sat there in a strange sense of both bewilderment and understanding. Tsugumi looked to Himari, with a questioning look in her brown eyes, “w-wait, Himari, I don’t think you answered the question at all; I thought the question was about qualities--”

  


“The perfect quality is Kaoru Seta.”

 

And yet again that same, understanding silence filled the room again. No one could even argue against Himari, to be fair; Kaoru truly was a quality in and of herself.

 

Seeing as her opinion was more or less stated, Himari sat back down, leaving one last girl unquestioned. “C’mon, Tomoe, spill the tea; someone who has girls clamoring for her has got to have some pretty specific tastes, right?”

 

“Haha, n-not really,” Tomoe answered, hoping to dodge the question, which would more than give away her growing crush on Rinko, “just someone who is nice, that’s all…”

 

“Oh, come on! Such a boring answer from someone who’s an absolute ladykiller.”

 

“Fine, fine.” Tomoe shifted in her seat as she began to explain herself, her eyes looking further and further down in an attempt to hide her expression. “I guess… someone who’s kind, responsible and caring,” Tomoe began, fiddling with her thumbs, “I guess she’d need to be ok with having Ako around her as well; and I guess it would be nice if she was a bit timid and relied on me--”

 

“Tomoe, you just described Shirokane-senpai.”

“A-ah.” Tomoe was caught red-handed, a deer in the headlights, and up shit creek without a paddle. She didn’t dare to look up, lest she see the reactions of her bandmates

 

_I can’t just back down from my answer, that’d be even more suspicious… but at the same time, I don’t even know if I really do have a crush on Rinko._

 

Hearing shifting from beside her, Tomoe looked up to see Moca walking up to her, with eyes that… definitely did not shout ‘we’ll support you Tomoe!’ or ‘awww, that’s so cute!’ The guitarist gave a shit-eating grin as she elbowed Tomoe in the ribs, “Ooh, it seems like our Tomo-chin favours _that_ kind of girl, hmm?” she jeered as she raised her hands to her chest, cupping underneath, “and from another band too? How scandalous~”

“You little…” Tomoe shot Moca a dirty look, knowing full well that her friend was trying to do nothing more than to rile her up, “I like her ‘cause of her personality, but I guess all you’ve got on your mind is buns, huh?” The other two girls in the room silently nodded with eyes wistfully closed, symbolically acknowledging Tomoe as today’s victor.

 

But even as Moca was by all means on the losing side of this exchange, the fact still stood; she had all but confirmed that Tomoe was head over heels for Rinko. And, better yet, she was sure that Tomoe had picked up on it as well, judging by the uncharacteristic blush on her face.

 

“So you _aren’t_ denying that you at least think Rinko is cute, right?” Himari asked, “oooh, girls, I think we might have ourselves a bonafide _crush!~_ ” Tomoe didn’t know whether Himari catching on was good or bad news; on one hand, she was going to be teased into oblivion by these two troublemakers, but at the same time, if anyone was to help her confess to Rinko, it’d be her. Not that she was going to confess, anyways. It still wasn’t a crush or anything; just a longing attraction to a girl she (definitely) wouldn’t mind dating. _Who am I kidding…_

 

“Fine, fine, Moca’s right, I just, I don’t want this to really get around,”  Tomoe admitted, much to the chagrin of the other three girls, “ so, I’d rather we keep it private; maybe even keep it a secret from Ran--”

 

“Keep what a secret from me?” Ran asked, as she walked back into the practice room from her extended phone call.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> It's been a long time coming, but here it is! I've been thinking about this pairing for quite a while, and while it know it may seem out of the blue, I hope that I'll get to at least show others how cute it can be!


End file.
